In today’s modern way of life, technology is king – and whether we’re at home, at work, or out on the street, there’s no escaping. Everywhere you look, almost everyone is holding a Smartphone phone in their hand, and if they’re not, then you can be certain they have one stashed away in a bag or pocket.
These small, hand-held devices have dramatically changed the way we see the world, and in turn, how the world sees us, with the big-name brands that create and make them now some of the biggest and fastest-growing companies in the world. In fact, Apple is the number one largest publicly-traded company globally, with a market capitalization of $2.1 trillion. That’s a lot of iPhones being sold by the day – and there are no signs of them slowing down anytime soon.
With this in mind, it’s perhaps unsurprising that high-end fashion brands have, over the years, linked up with some of these big tech companies to make some great phone collaborations. After all, not only is it a great opportunity for tech companies to capitalise on an injection of high fashion cool, but the fashion brands themselves get a cut of that seemingly infinite technology money, too – with both cashing in on the inevitable buzz created on social media that makes the resulting products some of the most highly-coveted launches ever.
From Prada to Dolce and Gabbana, some of the world’s most esteemed fashion houses have already dipped their toes into the waters of the tech world, and with whispers that more are to come this year, it’s a trend that is continuing to grow. Here, we take a look at some of the biggest and best high-fashion tech collaborations of all time, many of which remain just as sought-after even today.
LG Prada
This collaboration between South Korean tech company LG Electronics and Italian luxury fashion power-house Prada back in 2007 was genuinely revolutionary, and attracted a huge amount of press and social media attention at the time. As one of the most esteemed names in the fashion world, Prada is no stranger to high-profile collaborations, with music star Drake choosing them to make a custom wardrobe for his ‘The Boy Meets the World’ tour, and its partnership with LG saw the creation of the first capacitive touchscreen phone to ever be released. The foundation for all smartphones that came along after, and conceived even before Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, there’s no denying it was ground-breaking stuff, and it certainly got the world talking.
The phone, which retailed at around £700 at the time, sold an incredible one million units in its first 18 months alone. As you would expect from Prada, it was sleek, stylish and minimalistic in black, and won many awards for its then innovative look.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Thom Browne Edition
Thom Browne is an American designer who heads up the fashion brand of the same name. A relative newcomer to the scene, the brand first launched its ready-to-wear menswear line in 2004, with its ready-to-wear womenswear range coming several years later, in 2011. Nevertheless, in just a short period of time, Thom Browne has managed to build a fashion empire known for its reinterpretation of classic styles – so it was perhaps little wonder that South Korea tech giant Samsung saw the brand as the perfect fit to partner with to help revive the flip-phone.
The Galaxy Z Flip Thom Browne Edition was launched at New York Fashion Week 2020, and has managed to completely revive the style despite it falling out of favour when touch-screen smartphones first burst onto the scene. A true state-of-the-art piece of tech, its chic design features the instantly recognisable red, white and blue Thom Browne stripes, and is packed with a range of exciting modern features to ensure it ticks all of the right boxes on the innovation front, too.
These include a unique soundscape with a typewriter keyboard, and a fantastic camera that produces crystal-clear images. It also offers excellent internet capabilities that allow users to stream movies, listen to their favourite tunes, or play online games on the go.
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Motorola Razr V3i DG
Back when flip phones were initially commonplace, Motorola Razr was seen as the best of the bunch, with many new designs and iterations over the years and each as covetable as the next. But it was the 2005 edition that eclipsed them all, when the American technology company collaborated with Dolce and Gabbana – one of the biggest fashion brands of all-time – to bring the most opulent mobile phone ever seen at that time to market.
The Italian designers lent their voguish touch to the already smart looking phone, resulting in a glitzy gold and silver offering that fashionistas were queuing up to get their hands on.
The Motorola Razr V3i DG came complete with a limited-edition D&G logo pendant that could either be attached to the phone, or worn as an accessory to give a lavish touch to any outfit. The mobile was also pre-loaded with specialised ringtones and MP3 files that set the owner apart from the pack, though it was the blinged out design that really got people talking, and made it a favourite for music videos of the time. With only a thousand phones ever released, and each one numbered, it was a real collector’s item that would likely fetch a tidy sum even today.
